The road to Puthumala in Meppadi is narrow with green estates on either side. It’s 4pm and mist is slowly engulfing the area. The tall Chembara peak is covered in snow.A small stream flows through the debris of the massive landslide of August 8, 2019, in which 17 people lost their lives. Five bodies are yet to be traced. Twelve families who lost all their belongings live in rented houses at Mukkilpeedika, Vithukadu in Meppadi grama panchayat, 13 km away from the spot of the tragedy. Houses for 52 other families in the government list of beneficiaries are being built here.
Makeshift structures covered by blue plastic sheets and clothes catch one’s eyes upon entry.
There are 12 such shelters here, all set up in protest against the LDF government for ignoring the survivors. Some residents, including women, children and the elderly, are sitting inside, chanting slogans against the CPM MLA and the district collector. Teary-eyed Sheharban, 41, is one of them. She recalls the disaster that left her homeless.
“We heard the sound of minor landslips and left the area due to fear. From a safe point, we saw trees and soil flying in the air. Within seconds, a huge portion of land, trees and gravel came down followed by gushing water. It swept away the estate,” she says.Soon after the disaster, the survivors were shifted to relief camps and the authorities, including the MLA and the collector, promised them rehabilitation within six months. This hasn’t happened.
“We had to live in rented houses which left us facing severe financial crunch. I was working as a tailor and I lost my sewing machine in the landslide. Though a charitable organisation gifted me one, I have been jobless for a year due to the pandemic. I lost my new house, built on five cents, in the landslide. My name is in the government’s list of beneficiaries, though,” says Sheharban. Each of the 52 families has been allotted a 657-sqft house. The construction cost comes to Rs 10 lakh per house, of which the government will pay Rs 4 lakh and the rest will be sourced from sponsors.
Sheharban has not received any money. “I have been running from the village office to the collectorate for a new home. Once, the collector shouted at me saying Puthumala people need not come here every time seeking to know about the status of the rehabilitation project. It hurt me a lot,” she says. She says the authorities cite technical issues related to the ownership of the land on which her house was built – it was owned by her father-in-law. “I want to ask them how will I, my husband and my two children studying in Plus Two and Class IX, get our lost house back,” she asks.
Noushad, an ex-NRI, used all the money he made working in Gulf to buy 11.5 cents of land at Puthumala and build a house. The landslide shattered his dreams. He too is up in arms against the authorities for rejecting his plea for a house. “What justification do they have in denying us a house? We submitted a representation to Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi during his visit and are waiting for his intervention,” he says.
Mansoor, another protester who lost 7.5 cents of land but does not figure in the list, alleges discrepancies in the allotment of houses. “Those who lost land and those who received Rs 10 lakh to build a house figure in the list of beneficiaries. How? This is a clear case of discrimination,” said Mansoor.
Couple Abu Talhath and Shameera have a different problem. Though their two-storey house at Pachakkad was unaffected in the landslide, they were asked to leave after revenue department officials declared their house uninhabitable. “We met the collector several times seeking a house, but the authorities denied our request. Now, the collector has asked us to return to our old home. How can we live peacefully in a place where our dear ones died in front of our eyes,” asks Abu.Puthumala residents’ anger with the government was reflected in the local polls with the UDF wresting the Meppadi grama panchayat from LDF winning 17 seats out of 22. The UDF won in Chooramala, Attamala, Mundakai and Puthumala, all previously held by CPM for several years.